AI restores old photos
/Maybe you’ve heard or read about some of the new AI software that can create crazy surreal images by simply writing some descriptive text. I will put aside my opinion of these things for now and instead tell you about some of the really cool and helpful abilities AI does have when it comes to restoring scanned photos that may be damaged or faded. There are a number of products out there, but I used some easy-to-use features and tools in Adobe Photoshop to achieve some really good results with just a few clicks.
One image is of my father back in Germany as a young boy, the print was very scratched as you can see in the original scan. I used the new Neural Filters in Photoshop to both enhance the details and his facial features, as well as to reduce the scratches and other blemishes. I had to do a few adjustments to the sliders, but it was essentially a one-click operation. I had to lighten it a bit, but as you can see it removed most of the damage and enhanced the image and his face.
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The second image is me with my parents. The print suffered a common problem called dye fade, which in this case the blue dye faded over time giving the image an overall reddish cast.
Click on images to see enlarged and use arrow keys to toggle between them.
I first used Photoshop’s Auto Tone and Auto Color tools to restore and bring back the original color, you can see the result in the middle version. I then used the Neural Filters to enhance the faces which restored some clarity and sharpness the image, you can see this in the last version. Again, both of these actions were essentially one-click operations, the whole procedure taking just a few moments.
So, if you have old prints that are damaged or fading, there are now faster and less expensive methods of scanning and restoring these images. Call or contact me and I’m happy to tell you more about it.